


Misunderstanding

by Ena2705



Category: Leverage, Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Gen, childhood AU, im far too tired to tag, shawn was parker’s brother idk, the future job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:46:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26685358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ena2705/pseuds/Ena2705
Summary: After Shawn’s teacher suspects that he is being abused, an investigation is launched and Shawn is placed in foster care. Here, he meets a girl who is willing to take him under her wing.
Relationships: Parker & Shawn Spencer
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Misunderstanding

**Author's Note:**

> Right im so sorry. I don’t explicitly say that Shawn dies but it’s implied if you’ve seen The Future Job episode of Leverage. Also, usually I correct any Britishisms I’ve typed (such as mum instead of mom) because I know most of the fandom is American but I was too tired tonight so you’ll get what you get.

“Shawn, do you know why I asked you to stay behind?” 

The boy shrugged, wanting to be outside playing with his friends. He didn’t like being told off, and would much rather be pestering Gus. But instead of telling him off, the teacher held up a drawing Shawn had done earlier that morning. 

“I asked the class to draw what they did this weekend, so why is yours just coloured in black?” 

“Because it was dark.”

The answer was obvious to him, but it made his teacher frown. 

“Why was it dark, Shawn? It was nice and sunny this weekend.”

Shawn tugged on the hem of his shirt, not liking her attention being solely on him. 

“I was in the trunk of my dad’s car.”

That made his teacher frown more. 

“All weekend?”

“Well, all Saturday, and some of Sunday. My dad locked me in to teach me a lesson.”

His teacher paused in thought, before pulling a jar of sweets from her top drawer. Shawn’s eyes lit up; only the good kids got the sweets, so he must have said something right. 

“What else does your dad do?”

-

By the end of the month, Shawn had spoken with more teachers and councillors and social workers and police officers than he ever had, and every one of them gave him some sort of reward after talking with him. That’s why he liked talking to the big people. It didn’t matter if what he said made them sad or frown, he would never get told off, and they would always give him a treat. His dad didn’t like it when the people came to talk to Shawn, and often called it a ‘misunderstanding’, and always wanted to explain, but the people always wanted to talk to Shawn. 

The people were really interested in the lessons that his dad taught him, so he told them about running through the forest, and not getting dessert if he got the questions wrong, and being put in handcuffs until he could escape all by himself. Gus told him it’s probably because the people want to take notes to teach their kids, but Shawn wasn’t so sure, because the people also asked about his mum, and why she would leave sometimes and why she would always argue with his dad, and Shawn knows that not all parents fight. Gus’ don’t. 

One time, the people even spoke to Gus about some of the lessons that he was there for. Gus must have told them the right answers too because he came out with a lollipop. 

But all the questions ended after the trip to the big, wooden room with lots of people. It was a very boring trip, and all the people used big words like “psychological abuse” and “neglectful parenting with potential harmful consequences on the child’s psyche”, so Shawn didn’t pay much attention. That night, he had a sleepover with a nice old woman, and the next day, one of the people took him to a place outside of town that was full of lots of other boys and girls. 

He didn’t know the day in the big, wooden room would be the last time he saw his dad and mum, otherwise he would have told them that they better not sell his action figure collection. 

-

Parker watched as all the adults in the home went into the office after breakfast, and a strange woman brings a little boy into the room. Just before lunch, they come out the office again, and the woman leaves without the little boy. He looked lonely and confused, so she decided to shake his hand and introduce herself, just as she was taught at her last group home. 

“Hello, my name is Parker and I’m 7, nice to meet you.”

The boy looked at her funny, and just as she was about to pull back her hand, he smiled at her, grabbed her hand with his own, and shook. 

“Hello Parker, I’m Shawn and I’m 5 and a half, nice to meet you too.”

Shawn didn’t look like the other 5 year olds she had met, or even the other 5 and a half year olds. He was small, but he didn’t speak like a baby, and she liked that about him. 

“Come on, I’ll show you around, since you’re probably going to be living with us now.”

Shawn looked up at her and frowned. 

“I am? So does that make me your brother?”

Parker thought about it for a second before nodding in agreement. She liked Shawn, she wouldn’t mind him as a brother. 

“Cool! Will you teach me how to do cool stuff like climb trees and ride a bike?”

She couldn’t believe he had never ridden a bike before, riding a bike was so cool because you could feel the wind in your hair and imagine you were flying. She eagerly agreed.


End file.
